"As a teacher, I no longer feel like I need to control everything my second-grade students do. I can now allow them to work independently in groups. I provide opportunities for students to work collaboratively, and I let them talk while they write. Students are now interested to be in my classroom, and behavior problems have diminished."

In Beyond Reading and Writing, Jerry Harste proposes an expanded view of literacy; and three other teachers—Beth Berghoff, Kathryn Egawa, and Barry Hoonan—bring us into their classrooms and offer concrete evidence of what can happen when these new ideas are implemented in elementary schools.